The cave entrance was positioned very high up, making it normally difficult for ordinary people to reach.
But David had Ralts with him!
"Ralts!"
With David's soft call, a pink glow flashed, and an invisible Psychic force split the cascading waterfall in two. A second later, David and his Pokémon were already at the cave entrance.
"Excellent work, Ralts! Let's go and see what secrets this cave holds."
With that, he walked into the cave, and his two Pokémon quickly followed.
At the entrance, there was still a hint of light, but the further they ventured, the dimmer it became.
However, David had already prepared for this situation before coming.
"Ralts~"
Ralts raised a hand and snapped its fingers. A bright Flash immediately emanated from its palm, illuminating the entire cave as if it were daytime.
You didn't expect that, did you? Ralts had learned the Flash move!
When David played Pokémon games as a child, everyone knew Flash and Fly were essential. He had long since prepared for it. As for Fly—why would he need to fly when he had Teleport?
Speaking of which, if there were a Teleport TM, wouldn't it be possible to pull off something as impressive as teleporting Groudon? Isn't that much better than flying?
Turning his attention back to the cave, he felt much more at ease now that it was illuminated by Flash.
Upon first entering the cave, the passage was very narrow—only wide enough for one person to pass through. David even had to bend over to barely squeeze in.
But after walking about ten meters, the cave space suddenly widened, transforming from a small single-person passage into one where at least three or four people could walk side by side.
There were even signs of Pokémon activity, and just moments ago, David had spotted a broken Sandslash scale in a corner.
"It looks like this really isn't a 'little surprise' arranged by the officials!"
David couldn't help but remark, looking at the cobwebs strewn everywhere and touching the dust on the cave walls. This place certainly didn't look like anyone had been here recently.
"Swish! Swish!"
"Ralts~ (David, be careful!)"
Just as David continued further into the cave, he suddenly heard the sound of something being launched.
Ralts, who had been constantly observing the surroundings, immediately flashed in front of him. A powerful Psychic force formed an invisible barrier before David.
Only the sound of ding-ding-dang-dang was heard as the attack from the shadows struck Ralts's Psychic barrier.
Looking at the purple needles scattered on the ground, David realized that a Pokémon had just used Poison Sting to attack him.
"Ralts!"
Standing in front of David, Ralts saw the direct attack on its trainer, and a flash of red and black appeared in its eyes.
An indescribable fury surged from deep within its heart, making it want to destroy the Pokémon that had attacked David and everything in front of it.
Powerful Fairy-type and Dark-type energy erupted simultaneously and fiercely in an instant.
Agile Dazzling Gleam.
Agile Dark Pulse.
In that instant, two almost opposing energies converged in Ralts's hands. One hand emitted a destructive, cold, and eerie Dark Pulse, while the other gathered life energy into a brilliant Dazzling Gleam.
Both were simultaneously hurled in the direction from which the Poison Sting had come.
As soon as the two energy attacks made contact with the solid ground, they immediately exploded.
The strong air currents from the intense explosion, even with Ralts's Psychic barrier in front, still made David subconsciously activate his Aura to block them.
Riolu also quickly stepped forward to stand beside David. If necessary, it and David could connect their Auras to unleash power far beyond their current level.
"Calm down, Ralts. Your protection was very timely—I wasn't hurt."
No, he had to make Ralts stop. This was a cave—if Ralts collapsed it, they would be in serious trouble.
Hearing David's call, the red glow in Ralts's eyes gradually faded, and it regained its composure.
David frowned at this, realizing that the influence of that dark energy on Ralts had indeed not completely disappeared. If stimulated, Ralts could very likely fall into a berserk state.
Fortunately, it seemed he could still awaken it from that state.
"Are you okay, Ralts? Hmm, how did you feel just now?"
After Ralts calmed down and returned to his side, David asked.
"Ralts! (I'm fine now, David.)"
The smoke in the area gradually began to dissipate, and in the depths of the cave, shrouded in darkness, the attacker's figure finally revealed itself.
Its appearance was spider-like, with a red and black body, two pairs of yellow-purple legs beneath it, and a sharp horn on its head.
The moment he saw it, David recognized it—the Bug-type Pokémon, Ariados.
[Name: Ariados]
[Type: Bug/Poison]
[Gender: ♂]
[Energy Level: 35 (Superior)]
[Aptitude: Dark Blue]
[Ability: Sniper]
[Held Item: None]
[Known Moves: Poison Sting, Absorb, Focus Energy, String Shot, Bug Bite, Swords Dance, Assurance, Rage Powder, Fury Swipes, Sucker Punch, Pin Missile, Shadow Sneak, Night Shade, Agility, Lunge, Fell Stinger...]
An Advanced-level Ariados with dark blue aptitude, a fairly rich move pool, and the Hidden Ability Sniper.
Among the Pokémon David had encountered in the assessment area, this Ariados's strength would probably only be slightly inferior to Ursaring.
However, in terms of threat to new trainers, Ariados was probably several times more dangerous than Ursaring, if not more.
From this, it could also be seen that this was definitely not a "little surprise" set up by the officials.
Even if the officials were to choose fierce Pokémon as obstacles, they would only choose Pokémon like Ursaring, Pangoro, or Krokorok—species that, although they had bad tempers, were all direct combatants. Poison-types like this rarely appeared in such situations.
If the Poison Sting just now had hit David, even with his enhanced physical fitness, he would have suffered considerably. For another person, losing their life was a real possibility.
By the time the smoke had completely cleared, in addition to the Ariados in front of them, there were also seven or eight other Ariados and Spinarak lying around in states of unconsciousness.
There were both Novice and Ordinary-level ones among them.
It seemed they had all fallen to Ralts's furious attack earlier.
Although this Ariados did not immediately fall, it was clear that the previous attack had not been without effect. The black scorch marks covering its body silently attested to the power of Ralts's move.
Even with an Veteran-level Pokémon facing an Superior-level one, and even with a level difference of more than ten,
under that move, the opponent still sustained considerable damage.